Ms for Investigation of Time-Dependent Protein Adsorption On Surfaces in Complex Biological Samples

Aim: This study aims at developing a nondestructive way for investigating protein adsorption on surfaces such as biomaterials using mass spectrometry. Methods: Ventricular cerebrospinal fluid in contact with poly carbonate membranes were used as adsorption templates and on-surface enzymatic digestion was applied to desorb proteins and cleave them into peptides. Mass spectrometric analysis provided both protein identification and determination of protein specific adsorption behavior. Results: In general, the adsorption increased with incubation time but also protein-specific time-resolved adsorption patterns from the complex protein solution were discovered. Conclusion: The method developed is a promising tool for the characterization of biofouling, which sometimes causes rejection and encapsulation of implants and can be used as complement to other surface analytical techniques.